Process of melting and purifying glass



(No-Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. REESE'. Prooe'ss'of Melting and Purifying Glass.

No. 240,846. P atente'd May 3, 188|.'

I (No Model.)

Y 4 8 shets'esneetz. LREESEL Process` ofMelti/ng and PurifyingGlass.

'Patented May, '8, 1881.

N PETERS. PHml-ITHOGHAFHER, WASHINGTON5 D, (2

, (No Mdel.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. RBESB. Process of, Melting and Prifyving Glass. Nu. 240,846. l

Patented May 3,1881'.

i UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE..

JAooB EEEsE, or PITTsBUEG, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MELTING AND PURIFYING GLASS.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,846, dated May 3, 1881,

Application tiled February 2.5, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, a citizen of the United States, residinglat Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Bennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Heating, Melting, Purifying, or Refining Glass or other Materials; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l indicates a front elevation of an improved plant adapted to the use of my improvement. Fig. 2 indicates a front elevation, partly in section, of the same. Fig. 3 indicates a plan View taken through at the line a: w, shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 indicates a crosssectional elevation ofthe lower portion of one of the regenerators.

Like letters refer to like partsv Wherever they occur.

My invention relates to improvements in the process and apparatus for heating, melting, purifying, or refining glass or other materials; and it consists, first, in charging the material to be treated into a suitable furnace, vessel, or reningchamber, and then subjecting it to the action of a column or currents of highlyheated air brought to a heating, melting, or refining tempera-ture by being previously passed through a regenerator or other suitable air-heating apparatus, whereby the material may be heated, melted, purified, or refined in an open chamber by the aid of heated air alone, and Without exposure to the deleterious effects of the impure gases and products of combustion; secondly, in au improved apparatus adapted to the use of my invention.

In the drawings, A and A indicate the cy lindrical regenerative stoves, which are placed above ground and connected to a heating, melting, or refining furnace, B, by means of intervening combustion chambers or stacks, G and C. These combustion-chambers C and C( connect with the throats or necks of the opposite ends of the furnace B and extend up to the top of the domes of the regenerators A and A. Each stove lis covered externally with plate-iron, and is provided internally with a heating-surface composed of hre-brick in lattice-work arrangement, extending from a distributing-chamber at its base up to a point near its dome, and occupying the entire crosssectional area of the interior of the stove. These distributing-chambers extend through the base of the stoves and project at both ends slightly beyond the wallsof the regenerators. Openings provided with suitable valves, a, a and a a', are formed upon the sideof the projecting ends of the distributing-chambers, for the admission of air into the regenerators, and openings are provided on their opposite sides leading to the stack-flue, and having suitable valves, a2 a2 and a3 a3, to regulate the passage of the waste gases out from the distributing chambers. The distributing chambers are also provided with doors at both ends to admit ot cleaning, Snc.

D indicates the melting-chamber or part of the furnace which is lined with pot-clay, such as is in common use for the manufacture of pots for glass-making.

Beneath the refining chamber or hearth is located a gas -flue, E, the opposite ends of which terminate in a series of fire-brick iines, leading up into the base of the combustionchambers C and C', as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. The gas-flue E is eonnectedat its center With a gas-main, E', leading` to the gas-producers, and is provided with valves e and e', for the admission of gas alternately into either of the combustion-chambers.

In constructingthe plant which I have just described, I prefer to form a slight depression or hollow in the lining of the pot of the refining-chamber immediately in front of each of the charging or gathering doors, as the eEect of providing such depressions will be that when the material is melted and refined it will run into the depressions from the other portions of therning chamber or pot, and may be more readily gathered and removed from the furnace. The" furnace may also, if desired, be provided With suitable tuyeres projecting into the pot, for the admission of hot blast into and through the material to be treated, for the purpose of accelerating the melting ofthe charge. In this case, however, the action. of the blast should be stopped after the material is melted, in order that it may remain ata state of rest for the .emission of any occluded gasesv and for its more thorough refining.

In operating the plant the air-valves a a of the regenerator A are opened and its stack- IOO valves a2 a2 are shut, the stack-valves a3 a3 of the opposite stove, A', are opened, and its airvalves ct a are closed. Both gas-valves e and e of the gas-liuc E are shut, and air is then forced into the regenerator A through the airvalves a a, under a slight pressure, until the current has passed over the refining-chamber of the furnace. The gas-valve e is then opened and gas is forced into the combustion-chamber C', where it unites with the air which'has passed over the refining-chamber. Combustion takes place and the flame and products of combustion pass upward in the combustion-chamber into and through the regenerator A', and out through the valves a3 a3 into the stack. After about twenty minutes (more or less) the regenerator A has become highly heated, and the gas-valve c is closed, and, as the air continues to flow, in a moment or two the gases and products of combustion are driven, bythe current of air, out of the regenerator A into the stack. The airvalves a a are then closed and the stack-valves a2 a2 of the regenerator A are opened and the air-valves a a are opened, and the stack-valves a3 c3 of the regcnerator A are shut, the gas-valve c is closed and the valve e of the gas-liuc E is then' opened,`thus reversing the currents, and the air entering the regenerator A becomes highly heated, passes down the combustion-chamber 1 iinto and through the rcgenerator A, and then state required for gathering.

outward through the stack-valves a2 a2 into the stack. The currents are thus reversed every twenty or thirty minutes, un til the furnace becomes thoroughly heated to about 2,000O Fahrenheit. When the furnace has acquired a temperature of 2,0000, the glass material may be charged through the doors and the doors closed. In from two to three hours the glass will be thoroughly melted and an additional charge of glass material may then be charged, so as to more fully ll the pot, which will be melted in `from one to two hours. The heat should now be increased to about 3,000O Fahrenheit, and continued afterthe ebullition ceases for about three or four hours, so as to keep the glass in a highlyuid condition and a state of rest, in order that the gases may escape and the resultin g .glass be free from blow-holes or bubbles. When the glass is thus thoroughly melted and refined, the temperature is lowered by shutting off a portion of the air and gas, for the purpose of reducing the glass to the viscid The gatheringholes may then be opened and the glass withdrawn in the usual manner. The timey required for melting and refining a heat in such a regenerating-furnace will be twelve (12) hours,

so that the glass material may be charged at six oclock in the evening and be ready to draw at six oclock the following morning.

rents that the gas-valves should be first closed, and the air passing over the hearth be permitted to drive all of the gas out of the regenerators before the air-valves are changed. The current of air should also be reversed over the refining-chamber before the gas-valve bc opened. Hot air only passesover the reningchamber, and the hot air is thus utilized before it is used for combustion, and the gas or the gases resulting from combustion never enter the refining-chamber, but are utilized for heating the regenerators only.

The advantage of this process is that glass may be melted and refined and other material treated, melted, or refined in an atmosphere of hot air without the products of combustion coming in Contact with the glass or other material under treatment; and glass which now requires thirty-six hours to melt it and renne it in closed pots may be melted and refined by the use of my process of hot air in twelve hours, and be made freer from bubbles or other defects than the glass melted in closed pots, because I can produce a higher heat and make the glass more fluid, and thus more lthoroughly refine it in onethird of the time. In open pots, as at present practiced, where the glass is subject to sulphur and other gases of combustion, it takes twelve hours to melt the most fusible common mixture ofbottleglass and twenty-four hours to melt common window-glass. Thus I am able to secure all the advantages of the closed pot, which requires thirty-six hours to a heat in the shortened time now required for melting common bottle-glass.

When the product is to be used for plateglass, an adjustable pot could be used and the melting be done by blowing the hot air through the material, as cold air is now blown through the metal in the Bessemer converter, and wh en the glass has been melted the pot can be turned over on its side and the hot air blown over the glass until it is sufficiently refined and ready for use. The pot could then be turned down and the glass run out on the plate and rolled, and afterward treated as now in common use or practice; or the furnace containing the pot could be made adjustable, and after the glass had been prepared, as first described, the pot or furnace containing the pot could be turned so as to cause the glass to run out on the plate; or adjustable open-mouth pots may be placed in a furnace and heated with air until the material is melted and the glass is refined. The pots may then be withdrawn throughthe door and emptied on the plate.

I have described the operation of my improvement as applied to the manufacture of glass; but I do not intend to limit its use solely to such purpose, as it is applicable to many other purposes wherein it is desirable that the material to be heated, melted, puried, or refined should notbe subjected to the deleterious effects arising from combustion or the presence Care should be taken in reversing the curof sulphurous gases and products of combus'V IOO IIO

tion present in the furnace or refiningchamber', and then subjecting it to a high and con- A tinuous temperature by means of a column or currents of highly-heated air forced into, through, or over the material contained in the reningchamber, whereby the material may be heated, melted, purified, or relined without exposure to the deleterious effects of sulphurous gases and mechanical impurities contained in the products of combustion, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

l suitable refining vessel or chamber, and then subjecting it to a high and continuous temperature obtained solely by means of acurrent of air raised to the required temperature by its passage through a highly-heated regenerator, and without the presence of combustion or the products in the refining chamber or vessel, substantially as speciiied.

3. ln the process of heating, melting, refining, or purifying materials for the manufacture of glass or other materials, the method herein described of freeing the regenerator from the presence of waste gases and products of combustion, which consists in closing the gas-valve for a short time previous to the reversal of the air-current, whereby the waste gases are driven from the regenerator into the stack and their presence in the reiinin g-chamber on the reversal of the air-current is avoided, substantially as herein specified.

4. The improved plant herein described, which consists of two cylindrical regenerative stoves placed above ground and pro vided with exterior combustionchambers, which communicate with the top of their domes and with the opposite ends or necks of a heating, melting, or reiinin g chamber, substantially as herein specified.

5. The combination of two regenerators, each provided with a vertical combustion-chamber, an intervening melting or reiining chamber, and a gas flue or conduit connecting with each combustion-chamber, and provided with valve or valves arranged substantially as specified, so that the gas may be directed into either combustion-chamber, to combine with the air which has passed over the melting or refining chamber, substantially as and for the purpose specied.

6. The method herein described of utilizing the waste heat in melting and refining processes, which consists in, first, causing the highly-heated air-currents from a rcgenerator to pass through a melting or refining chamber, whereby a portion of the heat is utilized, and,

secondly, combining gas therewith and indue ing combustion after the air has passed the melting-chamber, either in or before the same has reached the regenerator, whereby the residual heat of the air is utilized, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this'24th day of February, 1881.

JACOB REESE. Witnesses:

F. W. RITTER, Jr., H. B. MoUL'roN. 

